The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-01-16
MUSIC FOR CHURCHES.
THE STAGE ROBS THE CHURCH
CHOIR OF THE BEST VOICES.

The Growing Demands Of Church Geers.
The Secret of the Present Doarth of
Good Voices--Sopranos and Tenors Be-
coming Scarce.
The churches in New York are trying to
solve the problem how and where tho music
for 1887 Is to ba obtained. There is money
enough to pay for cultivated voices, but
the trouble is that trained voices arc not in
the market AS in times past tho church
going public domandoJ that they should
have q preacher of celebrity and power, so
now they demand that cultivated voices
shall bs furnished for tho choir. Although
there is development Of tho craving for
chorus chOirs and for double qusrtets,
nothing short Of well balanced competent
choir that can interpret tho most difficult
selections will satisfy the average church
goer. In fact, the character Of the music
rendered by church choir to-day IS OF g.
much importance and great drawing card
a. the man who occupies the pulpit. Con-
sequsntly tho church music committees are
having "a vsry industrious hunt for good
voices.
Cultivated soprano and tenor voices are
in great demand and it seems that the vocal
lists Of Now York are looking for salaries as
well az fame. It is estimated that the sala-
ries paid for church music in this city, al
though ranging from $3.50 20 $4,000 per
year, aggregate without doubt many times
the pastoral salaries. 1t has long been
the complaint Of those engaged in church
choir work that they were by no means suf-
ficiently recompensed for the time and abil-
ity involved, but 50 long as volunteers and
able recruits could be had almost for the
asking their plants and criticisms were
unheedod.
FOUND BETTER MARKET.
~ do not think the secret of the present
dearth of good voices is that singers have
determined TO be paid for their work or not
sing" said well-known wielder of the
chorister baton the other day. ut IS rather
that they have found much better market
for their voices. Since the Introduction OF
'Pinafore' into this country the church
choirs have been ransacked and depleted
to the end Of furnishing leading and chorus
voices for the multitude of comic operas
that have 50 quickly and successfully fol-
lowed Gilbert and Sulliyan's tuneful history
Of Ralph Rackstraw Where a good singer
once lent the best endeavors to obtaining a
position in church choir, to-day the rule
is TO seek out some manager III anticipation
of securing an engagement on the stage.
Even those persons who have not succeeded
in finding such an engagement still refuse
church work because they hope soon to Sc
cure the long coveted place on the Operotic
or theatrical stage. In brief, the church has
been robbed by the stage for the past five
years.
"Not only are our own city churches IN
need Of good voices, because OF this gradua-
tion 10 the stage, but because -out OF town
churches. finding it difficult to secure com
petent voices have invaded New York. and
by making liberal offers have carried away
some Of our best singers. There are plenty
of singers to be sure, but there is a scarcity
of available voices of the requisite cultiva-
ton for church service. Though the main
difficulty seems to be in Obtaining sopranos
and tenoIs, the deficiency is really not con-
fined to one class of vocalists. Altos and
bass voices can be had, but they must be
literally paid for. | call 10 mind now an
instance where one church in this city Will
pay a newly engaged alto more than double
the salary given to her predecessor. While
many bass and baritone voice are III the
market. 50 to speak, the rich, deep, well
rounded bass is to be obtained only with
much difficulty. Singers possessing voices
have no cultivation, and those whose voices
show culture are lacking in the desired tim
ber 1t is fact that in order to retain the
valuable components Of their choirs many
of the churches will hayo to increase the
salaries next year more than ever before.
As look bacl; | can call to mind several
well known companies on the road that
represent many Of the best voices that have
been heard in church choirs. New York
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